Link-O-Rama: Taveras on the verge of history

* Not only is Willy Taveras hitless in his last 32 at-bats while misguidedly playing through a hamstring injury, he's failed to reach base at all in eight straight games in which he's had at least two plate appearances.

Steve Balboni, Dan Meyer, and Rob Picciolo are tied for the most since 1954 with nine such games in a row, so after getting yesterday off Taveras is one more bad game away from joining their exclusive club. Good luck, Willy!

* Randy Johnson picked up career win No. 301 over the weekend and is now five victories from passing Tom Glavine for 21st place on the all-time list. Since back-to-back rough outings to begin the season Johnson is 6-3 with a 3.96 ERA in 11 starts, which gives him a chance to pass Glavine (305), Mickey Welch (307), Charley Radbourn (309), and perhaps even Tom Seaver (311) with a strong second half.

* According to the Miami Herald, last month "the Marlins rejected Atlanta's offer of outfielder Jeff Francoeur for Cody Ross." Ross is nothing special as a player, but his .263/.317/.486 line since the beginning of last season makes him about 20 percent more productive than Francoeuer (.242/.291/.355) during that same span and he's making $1 million less.

* Since coming off the disabled list last month with a new pair of shades, Brian McCann has hit .377 with a 13/15 K/BB ratio in 32 games.